Motorcycles

November 15, 2007 Upping the grunt to a huge 500 horsepower courtesy of a new 186 pound battery pack, the KillaCycle has reached speeds of 168mph in becoming the first electric-vehicle in history to enter the “magic sevens” in the quarter mile. The KillaCycle made two runs of 7.824 and 7.991 seconds (with a 0-60mph time of under one second) at the All Harley Drag Racing Association (AHDRA) California Bike Week event last weekend at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California, making the new official quarter mile record 7.991 seconds - the sixth occasion on which the KillaCycle has set a new world mark. Read More

November 7, 2007 Pictures have emerged of the 2008 CB1000R – Honda’s new sporty performance naked bike that sees a 1000cc Fireblade engine re-tuned for mid-range performance and dropped into a naked frame. Specs include fully-adjustable forks and radial front brakes taken from the Fireblade, all-new single backbone frame, single sided swingarm, a superb looking 4-swept-spoke ninja-star rear wheel, an all-digital dash and and H.I.S.S. security system. No horsepower figures as yet but expectations are for around 120hp from the re-tuned 1000cc engine. Read More

October 30, 2007 What a hoot! Piaggio’s new carving three-wheeler, with two independently suspended front wheels, opens up yet another whole new category of motorcycle – a category that will surely explode once people get a glimpse of the ability of these stunning bikes. The MP3’s triangle footprint produces some sensational handling characteristics, making it an exceptionally fool-proof learner/commuter bike – as well as a hilarious hooligan tool for more experienced riders. Gizmag spent an afternoon with the scooter that just won’t let you mess things up. Read More

Here’s one of the more radical concept motorcycles we’ve seen in a while – Suzuki’s Crosscage concept is a fuel-cell powered electric bike with single-sided suspension front AND rear. The brushless electric motor’s mounted inline with the rear wheel, and looks-wise it’s so far out there that it’s on its way back again. Seems like Bridgestone’s even developed a special futuristic-looking tyre to match the bike’s oddly tesselated discs. We’ve just encountered the amazing concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, where our heads are still spinning from all the ground-breaking technology on show. Read More

October 25, 2007 Taiwanese manufacturer Kymco is getting ready to stamp some serious presence on the scooter market with a brand new 700cc super-scooter unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show. The Myroad 700i features plenty of neat gadgets such as inbuilt tyre pressure gauges, electronically adjustable suspension, keyless ignition, ABS and an alarm, as well as a 170kmh+ top speed to make it the up-and-coming company’s technology flagship for 2008. Read More

October 25, 2007 Yamaha is set to reveal a whole new class of four-wheel recreational machine at the Tokyo Motor Show that looks to combine motorcycle performance and maneuverability with four wheels worth of traction and road-holding capability. Details remain sketchy on the Tesseract hybrid four-wheeled motorcycle – ostensibly a four-wheel version of the Vespa, Piaggio and Vectrix three-wheelers with tilting mechanisms (dubbed “dual-scythe suspension”) at both ends making it a carving four-wheeler that retains the advantages of narrow width roughly equivalent to a two-wheeled machine. Powered by an electric hybrid liquid-cooled V-twin, the Tesseract promises ample torque and a top speed that will be theoretical everywhere but a racetrack, and when at rest, the machine will remain upright without the need for a stand via a dual arm-lock system. Read More

October 22, 2007 The 2007 Panasonic World Solar Challenge got underway yesterday with 40 teams from across the globe competing in the 3000 km race from Darwin to Adelaide in Australia. Among the competitors in the Greenfleet Technology Class - a category for internal combustion vehicles promoting an enhanced environmental profile - is the BioBike, a biodiesel-powered motorcycle, constructed by a group of students in Adelaide, Australia, that happily does 96kmh and returns a staggering fuel economy of only 2.2 litres per 100 kilometres. As the design is further refined, BioBike’s creators expect this to drop below the 2 litres per 100km mark (around 107 miles per gallon), and they believe it can be manufactured for around the same cost as a petrol-powered dirtbike. Read More

October 21, 2007 Built by well-known motorcycle builder Rick “Big Rick” Hoffman, the customized “GEICO Chopper” will be auctioned online for the benefit of children’s charities with bids opening on October 22. Read More

Next year’s R6 might not look very different to the current model, but under the sharp-looking bodywork Yamaha’s 600cc Supersport missile has received some significant revisions aimed at improving the bike’s already scalpel-like handling and screaming power. As always, the 600cc Supersport road/track bike category will be extremely hard fought in 2008. With Triumph’s class-smashing 675 Daytona ruling the roost from out of nowhere for the last two years, the Japanese companies are throwing all their knowledge and technology at the category to wrestle back their supremacy. The customer is surely the winner in this battle - next year’s Yamaha YZF-R6 will contain more electronic goodies and tricky technology straight from the racetrack than anything that’s preceded it. Read More

October 18, 2007 Triumph have finally presented the touring version of their hairy-chested 2.3-litre mega-cruiser that they’ve been promising for over 12 months. The Rocket III Touring was unveiled to dealers last weekend in Atlanta. and rather than simply slapping a screen and a set of panniers on the original machine – which would have made for quite an acceptable touring bike – the British company chose to give it a full work-over. The engine has been “re-tuned for lazy, effortless touring” – which we take to mean it’s been partially relieved of its crazed top-end rush in favor of a torquier power delivery… Not that the tyre-smoking original could have been accused of lacking torque. Final power figures are yet to be released, but we wouldn't expect the Rocket III's 140 horsepower peak to be maintained in the Touring version. Read More